Hearing considers defense bid to move trial
Defense attorney for Justine Winter, David Stufft, questioned a series of people in Flathead District Court on Wednesday during a hearing on his request to move the trial to a different venue.
After being called Wednesday to testify about an opinion she posted on the Daily Inter Lake website, Jennifer Sysa cried and professed she didn’t truly wish for the death of an Evergreen teen charged with two counts of deliberate homicide.
“This is not about you, OK,” said David Stufft, an attorney for 17-year-old Justine Winter. “It’s about the situation that we’re in.”
Sysa was one of seven online commenters who testified Wednesday in Flathead District Court. They were subpoenaed by Winter’s defense as part of its effort to move Winter’s trial out of Northwest Montana.
Stufft has asserted in court filings that comments critical of his client on the Daily Inter Lake website show that there is a tainted jury pool in Flathead County. Wednesday’s hearing was for testimony on the motion for a new trial location and a separate request to suppress evidence in the case.
Winter was charged with deliberate homicide following a crash on U.S. 93 North in March 2009 that killed 35-year-old Columbia Falls resident Erin Thompson and her 13-year-old son Caden Vincent Odell. The Flathead County Attorney’s Office has accused Winter of intentionally crossing the centerline at high speed in an alleged suicide attempt.
Prosecutors oppose Stufft’s bid to relocate the trial and blame any inflammatory public perception on Winter’s decision to sue Thompson’s estate. Winter claims it was Thompson who crossed the centerline.
Wednesday’s hearing began with testimony from Flathead County Prosecutor Ed Corrigan.
Stufft focused on an interview published by ABC News in which Corrigan surmised the civil lawsuit could be an attempt to reach an agreement with prosecutors or prompt a change in venue.
“I also said that I can’t speculate what they’re thinking,” Corrigan said, finishing the quote cited in ABC’s report.
Penni Chisholm, an attorney for the Thompson estate, was asked to explain a letter sent to an insurance company that cited an inflammatory opinion of Winter in Flathead County.
Chisholm said she was referring to public opinion in connection with the civil suit — not the Inter Lake’s coverage.
She said her opinion could not be used to measure the views of the public at large.
“As an attorney, I cannot speak for the 80,000 people of this county,” Chisholm said.
Aside from the testimony of Chisholm and Corrigan, the majority of Stufft’s questions were aimed at online commenters.
The questioning was similar for each: Do you have any personal knowledge of the crash? Have you shared your opinion with others? Are these your comments?
Several of them said they would excuse themselves during jury selection because of their prior relationships with Thompson, Odell or Winter, a fact that Deputy Prosecutor Lori Adams sought to solidify during cross-examination.
Kalispell resident Wendy Forwoodson — whose son was a friend of Caden Odell — said she was “dumbfounded” that she had been called to testify and “actually thought there was freedom of speech and you can write whatever you want.”
After questioning another commenter, Adams asked about the nature of the Inter Lake system and implied there are opinions from all sides of the legal debate.
“The blogs are not slanted one way or another,” Adams said, asking if the commenter would agree. “It’s people saying ‘yes’ and people saying ‘no.’”
Sam Dickson, a Flathead County sheriff’s deputy, has posted that he would like to be on the jury so he could help reach a conviction. Under questioning from Stufft, he said he doesn’t know if he could be fair. He said commenting is something he does to pass the time.
“I don’t hunt, I don’t fish, I don’t have any other hobbies,” he said. “I blog.”
Three subpoenaed people did not appear for Wednesday’s hearings, including Inter Lake Publisher Rick Weaver and Managing Editor Frank Miele. An attorney for the newspaper has submitted a request to quash those subpoenas based on Montana’s Media Confidentiality Act.
Judge Katherine Curtis has not ruled on the request, but on Wednesday reiterated a prior order asking Stufft to explain what testimony he expects the newspaper managers to produce.
The hearing is expected to continue at a later date.
Also during Wednesday’s hearing, two Montana Highway Patrol officers testified that there has been no significant damage to Winter or Thompson’s vehicles since the accident. The vehicles are being kept at a county maintenance yard. Stufft claims the evidence has been compromised and should be considered void.
Winter is being tried as an adult. The trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 8, and Curtis is expected to rule on all pending motions prior to jury selection.